1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a pressing device for producing compacts from source material in powder form, in particular pulverized nuclear reactor fuel. The device has a die-plate contained in a platen and a bore associated with a ram for receiving source material powder, and also has a filling shoe disposed on a movable arm and bearing on and displaceable over the platen for filling source material powder into the die-plate bore. The filling shoe has an outflow opening directed toward the platen with a passing wheel as filling aid means, and is connected by a hose to a metering means with coaxial feed tube of a reservoir for source material powder.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,174 (German Pat. No. 31 39 150) discloses such a pressing device. This known pressing device shows no dust formation and avoids in particular powder losses, as there is no emergence of powder to the outside of the filling shoe. Such dust formation and powder losses could be especially disadvantageous in particular in the processing of pulverized nuclear reactor fuel such as UO.sub.2 and UO.sub.2 /PuO.sub.2 powder, as these pulverized nuclear reactor fuels are not only very expensive, but also toxic and radioactive. This is true in particular of plutonium-containing pulverized nuclear reactor fuels which, to avoid toxic and radioactive exposure for the operating personnel, are processed in principle in so-called glove boxes, the interior of which is closed off dustproof from the surroundings.
When setting up and operating the known pressing device in a glove box, therefore, considerable cleaning operations in this glove box are avoided, which cleaning operations would otherwise recur regularly and could lead to high radiation exposure of the operating personnel e.g. when processing plutonium-containing pulverized nuclear reactor fuels.